Fugitive arrested nearly 40 years after Marion County killing

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A fugitive wanted on a murder charge was arrested for his part in what authorities said was a plot to assassinate a mayor in Williston, Florida, nearly 40 years ago.

William Claybourne Taylor, 67, was taken into custody Thursday in Reidsville, North Carolina, where he had been living under a false name, the FBI said in a news release. Taylor is set to appear before a judge by video Friday, the FBI said.

FBI spokeswoman Shelley Lynch said the hearing could disclose the aliases Taylor used. An FBI wanted poster described Taylor as a dance instructor, trumpet player, convenience store clerk and welder. He might have been issued a U.S. passport in the name of Michael Cauley, according to the poster.

Claybourne was wanted for the slaying of Walter H. Scott, 64, of Archer. Scott was driving a 1976 Buick along U.S. 27, roughly 18 miles from Ocala in January 1977, when another vehicle pulled up beside him and he was shot in the back of the head.

The car veered off the road and into an area with pine trees. A masked man approached the car and pointed a gun at passengers in the vehicle.

Then-mayor of Williston, Eugene Bailey, was shot in the face, chest and stomach area.

"This is the oldest Marion County Sheriff's Office warrant that exist in our system," said Ryan Robbins of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. “This gentleman has been looking over his shoulder for 40 years.”

According to an account in The Gainesville Sun on the 36th anniversary of his disappearance, three years passed before Taylor, older brother Ray Taylor and another man were accused of scheming to assassinate the mayor and collect legal fees by representing his family.

Ray Taylor had moved to Tennessee and become a successful prosecutor, according to the paper, but was convicted in 1980 as chief planner in the plot.

Media reports said the third man, believed to be the driver of the car from which the shots were fired, testified against Ray Taylor in exchange for a manslaughter conviction and was sentenced to 15 years of probation.

William Taylor was indicted in 1980 on charges of murder and aggravated battery and arrested five days later in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the FBI said. The agency said he never returned to Ocala after being released in Tennessee on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond. A federal arrest warrant was issued in August 1980 after William Taylor was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

The FBI's release doesn't give details but said the agency recently discovered he was living under a false name and confirmed his identity once he was in custody.

"William Claybourne Taylor thought he could avoid taking responsibility for this horrible crime, but our agents continued an exhaustive search year after year," said Michelle S. Klimt, special agent in charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division.

The FBI statement doesn't identify the victims. However, a story published in 2013 in the Ocala Star-Banner identified the man killed as 64-year-old Walter H. Scott, of Archer, and the man wounded was former Williston Mayor Eugene T. Bailey, who was shot three times.

The report said the shooting occurred as they were driving along U.S. 27 about 18 miles west of Ocala when another car pulled alongside their vehicle. The newspaper report said the victims' car veered into pine trees after the driver was shot. A person approached the back of the car and shot Bailey, the newspaper reported. Two other men in the car escaped unharmed.

Taylor is being held in a detention center in Guilford County. It wasn't clear Thursday if he has an attorney.

Reidsville police didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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